In the Know: Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table store still more than year away

Oakes Farms plans to open its North Naples store in fall 2018.
Tim Aten

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Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table destination grocery store, under construction on the northeast corner of Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples, now is targeted to open in late 2018.(Photo: Tim Aten/Naples Daily News)Buy Photo

Q: Do you have any knowledge as to when the new Oakes Farms store on Immokalee Road will open? I realize it has been delayed a couple times already.

— A.J. Haacke, North Naples

A: Progress is evident for Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table grocery store, but the highly anticipated destination is not targeted to open before late 2018 on the northeast corner of Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples.

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Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table destination grocery store, under construction on the northeast corner of Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples, now is targeted to open in late 2018.
(Photo: Tim Aten/Naples Daily News)

The community has been abuzz and rumors have abounded in the three years since Oakes Farms Inc. purchased the former Albertsons supermarket and its 7-acre lot at 4835 Immokalee Road in North Naples for $5 million. In January, Alfie Oakes, the founder and CEO of Naples-based Oakes Farms, projected an opening date for this November, but the launch is being pushed back again as the massive project evolves.

“It’s not going to open up in November, not of this year,” said Dan St. Martin, who oversees the day-to-day operations at Oakes Farms Market. “The later months of ’18, most likely October or November, is when it will open up. The Nov. 6 date is pretty significant to us.”

That date is when Alfie Oakes and his father, the late Frank Oakes, launched the original Oakes Farms Market on Davis Boulevard in East Naples more than 20 years ago, but Nov. 6 also is the birthday of Alfie’s wife and grandfather. The Oakes family also launched the Food & Thought organic market and cafe in Naples on that date more than 10 years ago.

A rendering of the exterior of Oakes Farms' Seed to Table store under construction in the former Albertsons supermarket at Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples.(Photo: Oakes Farms Inc.)

Earlier this year Oakes said he wouldn’t wait another year to open the store if they missed the Nov. 6 target this year.

“We weren’t going to, but this is like a build and design,” St. Martin said.

Each time aspects from the store’s original design are changed or additions to plans and renderings are made, it causes a delay. Although these changes advance the project, they also set it back.

“It’s going to be something that no one’s ever seen, and the reason why we’re behind now is because we decided on the design that we wanted, we realized through structural engineering that we didn’t have the support to support it,” St. Martin said. “First our design group came in with their structural engineer and said there’s no way that we can do this. So he went back and gave his opinion on where we had to add support and then sent it to our structural engineer here, and our structural engineer took that, went in and said we’ve got to add support here, here, here, here, here.”

A rendering of the interior of Oakes Farms' Seed to Table store under construction in the former Albertsons supermarket at Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples.(Photo: Oakes Farms Inc.)

Of course, when a redesign of weight-bearing specifications requires additional support to a structure, the project has to revisit the permitting process. Collier County officials must approve the new plans.

“And that’s where we’re at right now,” St. Martin said. “We’re at the point where we need to be. Then in October we’ll be going full bore on the inside.”

The landmark store is destined to be a local destination, a foodies’ paradise coupled with concepts of Oakes’ produce and seafood markets, Food & Thought’s healthy cuisine and Thoughtful Threads’ organic clothing store.

“It’s just incredible, absolutely incredible,” St. Martin said. “Technically, we’re not a restaurant; we’re a grocery store, but we are going to be serving restaurant-quality food. Everything you can think of we’ll be serving it.”

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Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table destination grocery store, under construction on the northeast corner of Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples, now is targeted to open in late 2018.(Photo: Tim Aten/Naples Daily News)

Amenities at the more than 77,000-square-foot store will include sit-down dining, a full-service bar, three bars for beer and wine, a huge wine room with samples on tap, a wood-fired brick oven for pizza, a raw bar, sushi bar, grilling area, coffee bar and stations preparing fresh pasta, guacamole, cheese, cut vegetables, sandwiches, smoothies and even homemade ice cream with indoor-outdoor seating.

“There is a bread station where we’re going to be making fresh bread. So we’ve got a hot bread program all day long. No matter what time you come in, we’re going to have hot bread going,” St. Martin said. “We are going to have somebody on a three-wheeler bike with a basket filled up with all the hot bread riding around the store ringing a bell, ‘Hot bread! Get your hot bread!’ They’ll be doing that.”

The store will even include a book room, live plants for sale and a free day care center for shoppers. Large fish tanks won’t just be for show; they will house fresh seafood for sale.

“In the back of the seafood department we’re going to have on the left side a 300-gallon tank, on the right side another 300-gallon tank — live tilapia, live shrimp. In the center will be three 200-gallon tanks for lobsters, so the whole wall will just be a huge fish tank,” St. Martin said.

Oakes expects to have 400 to 500 employees staffing the massive store. Local restaurateur Eric Mansour was hired in July as executive chef for Oakes Farms. The Culinary Institute of America graduate will oversee the company’s existing food service program while preparing it to exponentially expand with Seed to Table.

Mansour was speechless after his first walkthrough of the new store under construction.

The chef is working daily at Oakes Farms Market, 2205 Davis Blvd., and starting to introduce culinary items such as different types of ceviche and tartars that will be offered at the new store in North Naples.

“A lot of the things that we’re going to be implementing into Seed to Table we’re trying out here, especially when it comes to the food,” Mansour said. “I think it’s cool that people are able to get a sneak of what’s to come. I mean every week I’m going to have a little something. It’s just a taste of what’s to come. I could never give them everything, but they’ll get a real good idea.”

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Oakes Farms’ Seed to Table destination grocery store, under construction on the northeast corner of Livingston and Immokalee roads in North Naples, now is targeted to open in late 2018.(Photo: Tim Aten/Naples Daily News)

The size of Seed to Table will not just be bigger, but its food quality is designed to be over the top. The store is planned as a culinary mecca focusing on high-quality fresh food made from scratch. Oakes expects it to be worth the wait.

“We’re a grocery store, but we’re not a grocery store. We’re a destination. You can come here and actually spend time here and enjoy the environment, enjoy the wine tasting, enjoy the ice cream, everything,” St. Martin said. “It’s going to be the Disneyland of grocery stores is what it’s going to be. It’s going to be amazing.”

Have a local question? Email it with your name and city of residence to intheknow@naplesnews.com. Tim Aten’s "In the Know" is published every Monday and Wednesday. Like In the Know on Facebook at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.